Truck stops -- the same everywhere

We are parked in a large dirt lot between a Pemex station and the "Tee-Pee" restaurant, at the edge of ejido Ricardo Flores Magón (map).

The lot is basically a truck stop, situated, as it is, at the junction of three major highways -- Mexico 10, on which we arrived from Buenaventura, Chihuahua 195 which goes north to Juarez, and the new cuota (toll road) to ciudad Chihuahua. It is this latter road that we will be taking in a short while.

After a pleasant and quiet stay in Janos, we had a nice drive yesterday on Mexico 10. We opted to take the bypass route around the city of Neuvo Casas Grandes, after first debating whether we wanted to make a stop there to ride out to the Paquime archeological site near Casas Grandes. Neither of us is a pottery buff, and we've seen our share of native American ruins, so we elected to skip it on this trip.

Somewhat south of NCG, we came upon a "Y" in the road that did not show on any of our maps. Apparently, the cuota has been extended from here in Flores Magón all the way to that point. Without good information, and somewhat lacking in cash anyway, we ended up on the old route through Galeana and Buenaventura before we realized the cuota would have lopped off a corner.

Just as well, since taking the bypass around NCG meant we missed the bank there, and we still needed pesos. We drove right past a Santander Bank in Buenavenura, and there was even an Odyssey-sized parking space right across the street. At least we have some more cash now, for today's tolls as well as any more meals. We'll need one more cash infusion before we leave, so that we can top off the fuel tank in Ojinaga before we cross into Texas.

After an incredible sunset, we walked over to the native-American themed Tee-Pee restaurant last night for dinner, as it looked the most appealing of the three restaurants surrounding us, one of which is essentially a snack bar attached to the Pemex station (which also had a laundry and hot showers, like many truck stops in the states). As has been the case since we left Agua Prieta, we are basically in a gringo-free zone, and virtually no one speaks any English, leaving us to muddle through in our very limited Spanish. Louise had garlic shrimp, which was quite good. I ordered an "enchilada," which arrived as more or less a chicken salad, with chunks of chicken, peas, potato, and lettuce mixed in a dressing of some sort -- on a plate, not in a tortilla. Not at all what I expected, but tasty nonetheless.

Tonight we should be on the other side of Chihuahua city.